Monday, December 17, 2012

Ty Segall - Twins

Admittedly, I miss the Ty Segall I was first introduced to in 2008: a fuzzed-out one-man band somewhat recalling Hasil Adkins or Mark Sultan, screaming his head off and instinctively keeping time on his kick drum. His eponymous release from that year, released on Castle Face, quite effectively grasped the energy of his solo live sets, and perhaps not coincidentally, would kick off a span of releases whose styles and frequency would nearly mimic the evolution of various projects by friend and label mate John Dwyer.

Segall quickly adopted a backing band and began to organize his songs a bit. And not only has his name since become synonymous with the word “prolific,” but his insatiable need to write and release new music has led him to release records with White Fence and the Ty Segall Band in 2012, in addition to Twins, his first solo release since 2011's marvelous Goodbye Bread. While Slaughterhouse, his record with the Ty Segall Band, was more along the lines of the sped-up garage rock to which he'd become accustomed, his collaboration with White Fence helped push his current release, Twins, toward a direction of psych rock that was ever-so-popular throughout the Los Angeles music scene in 2006 and 2007, and though a good record in its own right, is a couple years behind the bandwagon.

Twins is somewhat scattered, demonstrative of the variety of music Segall seems to have floating about his head, and his need to spit it all out in the form of frequent releases. “The Hill,” on which Oh Sees token lady Brigid Dawson lends introductory vocals, is Segall's best impression of the Beatles' “Tomorrow Never Knows,” and “Thank God for Sinners,” “Who Are You,” and “Gold on the Shore” are extensions of his work with White Fence from this past spring, slow and psychedelic, a bit more chill than I'd like from Segall. But “Would You Be My Love,” quite possibly a highlight for the record, is a retro love song, simple and sloppily performed, a welcome bridge between the Ty Segall of four years ago and now. Twins is neither Segall's best record nor a throwaway collection, but a realized desire to draw out everything released prior. And it wouldn't be fair to ask more of him at this point – he set his own bar, quite high, early on, and he'll have many opportunities to release his best work.